Month: July 2013

The International Cultic Studies Association (I.C.S.A.) will be holding their 2013 Annual Conference in Trieste, Italy this year from Thursday, July 4 to Saturday, July 6. The main theme for this conference will be Manipulation, Abuse and Maltreatment in Groups.

ReGAIN members have taken an active part in previous conferences and there have now been several presentations about the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi.

I.C.S.A. deserves support from former members and family members and friends of members past or present. Most practicing Roman Catholics have a false sense of security that there are no cult groups within the Catholic Church and a lack of knowledge regarding such groups and mind control. Once a family member has become a member it is too late to intervene.

I.C.S.A. has established an excellent resource center for its members and some of this information is freely available on their website. They are proactively gathering information about destructive groups including Catholic groups and through their efforts, the decision makers in the Church and interested members of the general public are gradually becoming more aware of how to deal with them.

Like this:

The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) will be discussing the topic of Cultic Aberrations in the Catholic Church as one of the feature issues at their annual conference being held in Trieste Italy July 4th to 6th, 2013.

ICSA has established two web sites that focus attention on the two main topics being presented at their conference. The first site Click Here provides some background information, including the following definition for cultic dynamics that provides a better understanding about manipulative groups such as the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi in the Catholic Church.

cultic dynamics, that is, to usually deceptive forms of authoritarian control and influence that generate inappropriate levels of dependency and conformity in members and that sometimes may result in psychological, financial, or sexual abuse or exploitation.

The ICSA article uses the case of Father Marcial Maciel as an example of how people, including members of the hierarchy have been fooled by deceptive wolves in sheep's clothing by slyly hiding themselves in orthodoxy by shifting the meaning of key theological terms. The article suggests that such leaders might be viewed as ideological frauds.

The second key issue being featured at the Trieste conference has to do with human rights Click Here

The ICSA article on the above site poses the question: How does a pluralist democracy protect itself and its citizens against the dangers posed by authoritarian groups without itself becoming authoritarian? adding that the challenge is to identify a balanced public policy approach that respects freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and other basic rights.

ReGAIN Comment:

Was the founder of the Legion and Regnum Christi the only ideological fraud? Did all the problematic issues disappear when Father Maciel died in 2008?

The specific details of what was wrong with the Legion and Regnum Christi has never been made clear to outsiders. After his death, the emphasis quickly shifted to drawing straight with crooked lines.

Throughout the subsequent visitation and reform process, aggressive recruiting, ordinations and consecrations have continued more or less they had since the early 1940's. Much emphasis was placed on the revisions to the constitutions and clarification of the charism. There was little acknowledgement by the Legionary leaders or the Church hierarchy of the inherent deceptiveness, authoritarian control, inappropriate levels of dependency and conformity in members or the psychological, financial and or sexual abuse or exploitation that ICSA refers to.

The Vatican Commissioner has been present as an overseer to encourage the Legionary and Regnum Christi leaders to reform themselves. His role has not been to wield a big stick and tell them what they need to do. There seems to be an underlying assumption that the Legionary and Regnum Christi leaders and members without outside expertise (about authoritarian control for example) are capable of identifying their own problems and finding solutions by changing their statutes and shuffling leaders around (as the money from business operations continues to flow into the same mysterious financial black hole).

We sincerely hope that some of the wisdom and knowledge that comes from the ICSA conference from some of the leading experts of the world regarding cult groups and mind control will be passed along to influential members of the Catholic Church hierarchy and that it will be accepted and put into practice when dealing with destructive groups such as the Legion that exist within the Church.

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